LUMPENPROLETARIAT—On today’s edition of Letters and Politics, substitute host Christina Aanestad addressed gender bias in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Unfortunately, Aanestad, and the experts she invited onto free speech radio, did so from the assumption that people uncritically accept the two-party system’s political cartelisation of the democratic process. So, Aanestad and company framed the entire discussion on gender bias within a narrow two-party dictatorship framework, which can only function to promote Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Consequently, host (and SaveKPFA partisan) Christina Aanestad engaged in bad journalism, by engaging in Democratic Party apologism for Hillary Clinton, working to make her appear sympathetic in the context of straw man arguments about Donald Trump, downplaying the crimes of Hillary Clinton. [1] The discussion largely focused on the first 2016 Presidential Debate and the rudeness of Trump’s behavior in interrupting Clinton many times. Of course, Trump also interrupted the male moderator as well. But, somehow, Aanestad and her expert guests were able to focus attention on the first presidential debate, but completely overlook or ignore the fact that outside of the debate, women, including another female presidential candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, were being arrested just for attempting to discuss the exclusion of political alternatives from the presidential debates. Dr. Jill Stein was even scheduled to be interviewed by MSNBC on the Hempstead, New York, campus of Hofstra University when she was intercepted by police after fellow female Eliza Collins, a reporter for USA Today, Tweeted that Dr. Stein had dared to board “the media bus at the Hofstra University.”

Fortunately, astute free speech radio listeners called in to challenge the absurd framing and narrative being promoted by the host’s SaveKPFA editorial perspective. Meanwhile, Aanestad ran sophistic defence for her neoliberal candidate, “She’s not getting away with anything“. But, instead of acknowledging the gravity of Hillary’s political crimes, which make her an obviously unfit candidate, especially to free speech radio listeners, Aanestad attempted to redirect the audience’s attention to the mysogyny and criticism being leveled at Hillary Clinton. And, again, always ignoring that their is another female presidential candidate in the race. Listen (and/or download) here. [2]

Messina

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[Working draft transcript of actual radio broadcast by Messina for Lumpenproletariat and Letters and Politics.]

CHRISTINA AANESTAD: “I think it’s a form of structural oppression. And I wonder how this affects the female psyche. But we have some callers on the line. And I want to go to them also. Let’s go to Vivian in Berkeley. Welcome to Letters and Politics, Vivian.” (c. 34:59)

VIVIAN IN BERKELEY: “Um, I guess I’m disturbed when I hear stations like this because I really believe Hillary Clinton has gotten to where she’s gotten by doing the same deeds as the worst of men. I mean you don’t hobnob with the powerful by being a wonderful person. And she has been involved with Monsanto and Walmart.

“And, you know, to do this now, to act as if—I mean I do agree that there is a lot of rudeness. But the reason is it’s so outrageous that she’s getting away with all the actual things, she’s done. And she’s, you know, she’s close to the bankers.

“And I feel like you’re doing a disservice by covering for her.” [rather than asking clarifying questions or respectfully responding, the host curtly cuts her off.]

CHRISTINA AANESTAD: “—let me just respond in that Hillary Clinton isn’t getting away with anything. For one thing, she’s dealing with a barrage of misogyny, that we’re discussing. And, then, she’s also dealing with criticism as well. So, and that’s a really good point. And that was something I wanted to talk about a little later. But our listeners have brought it up sooner. And I expected that to happen. (c. 36:24) [SNIP]

[Aanestad goes to an article about Hillary Clinton. But the one book and documentary, which neither KPFA nor Democracy Now! have mentioned is Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich (2015) by Peter Schweizer.]

[Guests apologise for Hillary Clinton by glibly saying “She’s complicated. But a lot of our discussions about Hillary are simplistic in an unhelpful way is what I would say to that.”]

CHRISTINA AANESTAD: “Alright. Let’s go to Lessina in Modesto. Lessina in Modesto, let’s see if you can knock your question out in 30 seconds for us.” (c. 57:37)

MESSINA: “Okay. Thank you so much. Um, I wanna second that earliest caller. You know? That I think this whole conversation does a disservice to Pacifica, to KPFA, because Professor Sara [who left the broadcast early] and you guys, also, uh, do. You’re prioritising a discussion of gender bias against an individual Hillary Clinton, while you’re ignoring the similar and larger more profound forms of discrimination being waged against Dr. Jill Stein and alternative political parties. And, actually, this entire discussion, I think, should be framed in the context of political parties because we understand that there is a political argument, that needs to be made to support Hillary Clinton by pointing out the gender bias [and, thus, rendering her the more sympathetic candidate relative to Donald Trump, but in a fallacious context, which ignores the political repression against Dr. Jill Stein and other political alternatives].

“There is no question that Hillary Clinton is suffering from the problems of gender bias. And nothing can take away from the merits of that grievance. But, you know, it is just not, um [as serious an erosion of our democracy as is political framing of the election in a two-party frame]—”

CHRISTINA AANESTAD: “Okay.” (c. 58:17)

MESSINA: “It just isn’t a comparison to the larger political exclusion of Dr. Jill Stein and [the more serious erosion of our democracy by this political framing of the election in a two-party frame]—.”

CHRISTINA AANESTAD: “Alright. I’ve got to let you go.”

MESSINA: “Do you understand?”

CHRISTINA AANESTAD: “Thank you for your call. Your point has been well taken. I wanna thank our guests today. And I think this is a good point. Maybe there’s a deeper discussion we can go down on the next show that I fill in for Mitch Jeserich. That does it for Letters and Politics today.

“The show is produced by Diana Martinez. Kristen Thomas is our engineer. You can find our archives at kpfa.org. (c. 58:48) [SNIP]

[1] SaveKPFA is one of the two major political/editorial factions at free speech radio, KPFA. It previously called itself “Concerned Listeners” and prior to that, “KPFA Forward”. The SaveKPFA faction currently has its partisans on various shows, such as the News Department, UpFront, Letters and Politics, and so forth. They tend to be pro-Democratic Party, especially around presidential elections.

Ever since the attempted takeover and shutdown of KPFA in 1999, listeners, listener-sponsors, the true owners of free speech radio KPFA and the Pacifica Radio Network, won a democratic governance structure. This was a listener-led movement back in the late 1990s, which came to be known as “Save KPFA”. But, years later, another group of partisans within KPFA, who were opposed to listeners having a vote, who were opposed to a democratic governance structure, co-opted the name Save KPFA for their own deceptive use during KPFA’s Local Station Board elections.